Female Rage, Rich Villains & A Flaming Axe: Inside They Will Kill You

Spoilers ahead. They Will Kill You is one of my favourite films of the year. It's only March, but I have the same affinity for it as I did towards Bring Her Back in 2025, which remains one of my top watches in recent history. It's an action-comedy-horror film with outrageous kills, ridiculous moments, and Kill Bill-style fight scenes. Oh, and at one point, the protagonist Asia Reaves (Zazie Beetz) takes on an entire room of thugs with an axe that's on fire. The premise is simple: Asia takes a job as a housekeeper at an exclusive New York City high-rise. She doesn't realise she's walking into a trap, as the Virgil houses a satanic cult behind a number of mysterious disappearances. Cue blood-spilling fights, explosions, and, at one point, an eyeball that makes its way around the building by itself.

While it's campy and super enjoyable, writer-director Kirill Sokolov also touches on real-world issues that are especially prevalent today. Lilith (Patricia Arquette) and Ray (Paterson Joseph) were originally shunned for being in a biracial relationship, Asia isn't a perfect victim, and the villains of the story just happen to be the super-rich and elite members of society.

When I spoke to Zazie Beetz, Patricia Arquette, Heather Graham (Virgil member Sharon) and Myha'la (Asia's sister Maria) about the film, they seemed eager to break down the different elements of They Will Kill You. Arquette also gave us details about a scene that was cut involving the infamous pig head, and Beetz explained how that practical fire axe scene worked.

Refinery29 Australia: I loved this film so much. It felt like it was a celebration of female rage. Was it cathartic to shoot?

Zazie Beetz: I think acting overall is incredibly cathartic to get to explore the range of human experience and the range of human emotion that I feel like we often have to repress in our day-to-day lives, and to really go all out and to feel to embody that energy, because you actually have to get into it in order to perform. It was extremely cathartic.

I love that a lot of the guiding force for Asia, for her rage was also bound in love, her drive was to find her sister, and that's what allowed me to get angry, to fight back, versus becoming meek. I feel like I needed to get into that anger energy in order to protect and in order to come into the warrior self.

I also did a lot of screaming and my vocal cords were pretty shot. By the end of the shoot I was actually nervous because we would do scenes, and I didn't sound the same as I did at the beginning of the shoot, because my voice was just gone.

Heather Graham: I think it is cool, like a woman being able to express her rage, but it is all coming from a place of love, that she loves her sister so much, but it is cool to see female power coming out of anger and rage, and that she's able to put it towards something positive like protecting someone she loves.

R29: Talking about rage, the fire axe scene was wild. I heard it was all done in camera. What was it like filming stunts with a flaming axe?

Zazie Beetz: There were a lot of safety things put into place. The people that got lit on fire, they had to be covered fully, like drenched, head to toe in a gel. I think that keeps the flames cooler. We were dressed in flame retardant clothes, and I had a wig that was dipped in flame retardant liquid that was velcroed on so I could rip it off in case it caught fire. People had to be fire extinguished after every take. And it's intense, and you definitely feel the heat. But I think as an actor, this is what gives you fuel to be able to actually react and engage. I never felt scared, but I just felt aware and present. I always think that adds to performance, which is why I like practical effects. And I'm so glad that so much of this movie used practical gore and puppetry.

R29: Heather and My'hala, what was it like doing your own stunts?

Heather Graham: I was slightly terrified, because I just thought, I definitely do not want to accidentally punch Zazie. I don't want her to accidentally punch me. But it was honestly one of the funnest things, because there's something so visceral about trying to kill someone and them trying to kill you. It was just really exciting, and it felt really athletic. And I always wanted to be a kick ass action person.

My'hala: I was really like running in fear most of the time, and I got punched in the face one time, so it wasn't as intense as what everyone else was doing, but I will say receiving a punch on screen is tough. My neck hurt really bad for a few days.

R29: What was it like filming with so much fake blood?

My'hala: This is indeed my third rodeo with some fake blood. I didn't miss her. It's sticky and annoying and uncomfortable, but it looks amazing, so it's worth every second of the discomfort.

R29: And Patricia, your character is a villain, but there's also reasoning behind why she first joined Virgil. How did that shape the way you approached playing the character?

Patricia Arquette: If you look at any bad guy in real life or in movies, they always have a reason for what they do. They always think it's okay what they do. You look at these Epstein files and all these people around him who were his friends. They say, well, because he was giving money to our hospital, well, because he was this and that. There's always all these reasons why people look away and don't want to acknowledge the damage that they're doing.

But the difference is, like Zazie's character comes in the movie and she has regrets, she has things she wants to work on. She knows she's made a painful impact, on someone else, and she has empathy. And that's the difference. People who are good people have empathy, and people that turn away from their empathy are very dangerous people.

R29: Heather and My'hala, the film is campy and packaged up in a really fun way. But there's these underlying themes about racism, power and riches causing real harm. Do we need this message now more than ever?

Heather: I think it's an important social commentary about what's going on right now. There's the rich 1% people that have money and power and they want to take advantage and abuse other people, just like in this movie. But it's a hopeful message, I think.

R29: And horror has historically been snubbed when it comes to Best Picture at the Oscars. Does the genre need more recognition?

My'hala: I like to think that even if something doesn't get awards recognition, it's still piercing the Zeitgeist and reaching large audiences and influence. Maybe not in awards, but the horror community is global, thriving, very strong, and connected. I feel the community when I'm in a project like this, and their love and appreciation for the history of the genre and all the new stuff coming out, so even if they're not being awarded at the Oscars or whatever, they're certainly being awarded in the community's hearts. And I'll take that!

Heather Graham: I think if you're bored of watching all the Academy contenders and you want to just watch a fun, smart movie that's an audience pleaser, watch They Will Kill You. I think everyone might be kind of sick of Academy movies now, they might just want to watch an awesome, fun movie.

R29: And finally, I was obsessed with the battle between Asia and Lily where Patricia had to wear a pig's head. What was filming that like?

Patricia Arquette: There was some really cool stuff that we didn't even end up shooting because we were running behind and it was kind of crazy... but there was a part that got cut out, which I'm glad it got cut out, and I wasn't that comfortable shooting it. I mean, I'm not superstitious, and I'm an actor, and everything's pretend, and it's a puppet. But it was the morning after the US election, and I had to put this pig head on and say an incantation, and it just creeped me out. I didn't really like saying it. It freaked me out. Anyway, I was so glad that they cut it out. It didn't work for them either.